Category Archives: Featured

Don’t get us wrong, we’re utterly enamoured by the sights, sounds and smells of the forest all year round. Regardless of the weather, season, or time of day, the wonderfully wild woodland always manages to captivate us. Hence why forests are the home to most of Go Ape’s Tree Top Adventure courses!

With each season comes new reasons to fall in love with the forest. So, staying topical, here’s why you should visit one this summer.

To see and smell the rainbow

Of flowers, that is. Forests aren’t just green! The flowers and plants which cover its floor transform it into a multicoloured canvas of pinks, purples, reds, whites, yellow and blues. Says the Woodland Trust, late spring flowering plants like bugle, wild strawberry, herb Robert, pignut, foxglove and lesser stitchwort (most of which sound like something from a J.K. Rowling novel) are joined by the likes of dog rose, enchanter’s nightshade and honeysuckle. See them, smell them, lie amongst them!

To seek shelter

Shady spots are in abundance in the forest, particularly during summer when the canopy is extra thick and bushy. This makes the ideal conditions for a morning trek, or maybe even an afternoon of tearing up the trials on a mountain bike. Oh, and let’s not forget, the canopy also keeps you nice and shaded while you’re busy swinging from tree to tree as you tackle a Tree Top Adventure course with your tribe!

To peer at (and into) a pond or two

Ponds are the ultimate place to spot wildlife, especially during summer. Look out for frogs, newts and tadpoles; pond skaters which skim along the water; and snails and diving beetles, which take regular trips to the surface to catch their breath. Out of the water, you may see dragonflies and damselflies dance in their air; or birds soaring to the water to take their daily bath. One of our favourite spots has to be Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean (where you’ll also find one of our leafy hideouts!).

To indulge in a mighty feast

Picnics in the park? Overrated! Pack a feast into a wicker hamper and head to the forest, instead! We’d highly recommend the New Forest; a beautiful national park encompassing woodlands as well as heathlands and coastlines. The best picnic spots are all along Ornamental Drive; try Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary to enjoy your sarnies next to a herd of fallow deer; or Lepe Country Park where you can watch the ships sail to Southampton as you chow down on your crisps.

To explore it in a brand new way

You’ve walked through forests. You’ve ran through forests. You’ve ridden through forests. So, it’s time to explore the forest in a brand new way: by swinging, zipping or rolling through it! Go Ape can be found in some of the Britain’s best-loved forests and parks; in 31 locations in fact, meaning there’s bound to be a site near you.

If you fancy unleashing your inner Tarzan in the canopy, book one of our Tree Top Adventures for you and your tribe. You’ll tackle everything from swings and bridges to tunnels and high ropes, whizzing to the ground after each section via zip wire. Alternatively, you could board a bunch of all-terrain Segways for an hour’s worth of exploration; or head to Grizedale forest for a one-of-a-kind Zip Trekking Adventure (just zip, after zip, after zip).

Have you swung through the trees with Go Ape before? Have you felt the high ropes in your hands, the wood beneath your feet and the wind in your face as you soared through the air via zip wire? Great, now, onto your next, forest-themed adventure!

This week under the spotlight: our self-balancing, all-terrain Segways, which transport tribespeople into the heart of the forest to enjoy an hour’s worth of exploration. As soon as you’ve had a quick training session from one of the Go Ape tribe at Segway base (where you’ll master controlling the machines), you’ll be free to roam!

Maybe you’ve been on a Segway before. They’re becoming more and more popular in big cities with tour groups. A designated guide takes the helm and you all roll around soaking up the sights, while learning more about the area.

City Segway tours are good fun, but believe us when we say, they are nothing compared to Segway-ing in the forest! You have absolute freedom. Forget congestion, pavements and pre-defined routes. You pick the path, you pick the pace, you sculpt your own adventure!

Expect simple paths and trickier trails, too. Expect to weave in and out of the tree trunks. Expect bumps, lumps and dips. Expect to see wildlife. Expect to breathe in fresh, crisp scents of the forest. Expect to laugh. Expect to make memories that’ll last forever!

We could go on (and on, and on) about how awesome our Forest Segway Experience is. But we realise that we’re obviously going to be a little biased and you may not end up trusting us fully. So, that’s why we’ve rounded up some fellow tribespeople to share their Segway experiences with us and you. We want you to hear about this unique adventure straight from the horse’s, no wait, monkey’s mouth!

Every other week throughout the summer, we’ll be uploading a new video where we quiz a tribe on their Go Ape adventure. The Adventure Tales will chronicle the emotions, thoughts and experiences of a tribe when they #SeizeAdventure with Go Ape. They’ll tell us truly how they felt whilst embarking on a Go Ape adventure and will hopefully inspire you to book a visit to the trees!

So, without further ado, let’s hear what three, lovely chaps had to say about their recent Forest Segway Experience …

Tribespeople, we’ve some exciting news to share with you! We have launched another, awesome Go Ape adventure. And just like our Tree Top Adventure and Tree Top Junior courses, and our Zip Trekking Adventure, it’s set high up in the canopy!

Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, monkeys and Tarzans, we introduce to you to our tree-mendous Nets Kingdom!

What is it?

It’s exactly what it says on the tin: a kingdom of nets! It’s a mammoth network of trampolines, giant ball nets, walkways and slides, set 30 feet up in the trees. To be a little more specific, Nets Kingdom boasts:

– 7 canopy tree houses and 1 destination tree house

– 2 net slides transporting you back to the ground

– 3 entrance ramps and one huge 9 metre high net climbing tower

– 8 tree-to-tree net bridges

– 80 metre long treehouse adventure route

This super-fun, 2000 square metre adventure is suited to monkeys big and small, old and young! We encourage everyone to have a go, but if your mini Tarzans are feeling independent (or think it’s uncool to hang with their parents), then you can always watch from the comfort of the forest floor.

And you can expect to pull some of the same moves as you would on one of our treetop obstacle courses. But instead of crawling through tunnels, you’ll be crawling through nets. And instead of wobbling across bridges, you’ll be wobbling across nets. And rather than whooshing through the air via zip wire, you’ll be whizzing down a (you guessed it) net slide!

If you’re a pro at clambering up, down and across nets on a TTA or TTJ course, then you must have a go at monkeying around in Nets Kingdom! This netted playground is encased in a hammock-like setting, so it’s safe as treehouses.

Sometimes, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the humdrum of daily life that we forget to stop and appreciate the world around us, as well as the people in it. So, turn away from your screens (okay, well not this one), gather up your tribe and lend us your ear, because life is only worth living when done so adventurously.

Find your tribe

They say that fortune favours the bold, the brave and those bonkers enough to spend their day swinging through the canopy, but what are riches when you have no one to share them with? A sunset isn’t half as beautiful when it’s just viewed by you alone and even the tallest mountain can feel small with no one beside you.

We humans are social creatures and when we’re away from our fellows for too long, it can leave us feeling a little lonely. We all want to belong, so Carpe that Diem and stand up from your desk, shake out your body, grab your partner’s hand and whatever little monkeys you have and take to the trees! We promise, the combination of fresh air, adrenaline and good company will soon set your heart a-fluttering.

However, if the little monkeys among you are feeling a tad reluctant when it comes to taking flight, remind them that famous world explorers like Marco Polo, Edmund Hillary and Gertrude Bell didn’t achieve their wonderful feats alone. Even Neil Armstrong had a whole tribe of helpers over the telecom and in the space shuttle when they went to the moon. It just shows that there can be no jump too high, no zip-line too terrifying or task too hard when you have your tribe by your side.

Go outside

Here at Go Ape, we know that when a tribe gets together, wonderful things can happen. So whether you’ve just turned eight or are a great octogenarian, everyone can benefit from feeling the wind blow through their hair as they whizz down a zip-line! Or, go as slow as you want; take a Segway tour and discover the forest’s understory, or amble along the holloways and feel the mud squelch under your toes.

Happiness is the most precious and unique currency on earth, because the more you give, the more you get. So gather up your tribe and invite them outside. Get their hearts pumping and fill their lungs with laughter. For us, being with our tribe feels like warm pudding in our bellies, or like tucking into a delicious slice of banana bread after a long week at Banana HQ. So whatever adventure you choose to embark on, what matters most are the ones you share it with!